On March 13, 2026, officers were dispatched to a gas station in Inver Grove Heights, Dakota County, on a theft complaint. Officers met with Victim, who appeared shaky and emotional. Victim reported meeting a friend named Joe to buy a Glock handgun. Joe was later identified as JOSEPH JAMES FLATEN ([DOB REDACTED]). Victim parked near Flaten and walked over to his driver’s window and gave him $600 for the gun. Flaten took the money and never gave Victim the gun and drove away. Flaten returned later and held the money out the window.
At that point, a man in the passenger seat pointed a handgun at him. Victim could see the laser pointed at him while he was sitting in his vehicle. Flaten drove away again without giving Victim [NAME REDACTED]. Victim [NAME REDACTED] on Snapchat between him and Flaten arranging the sale. Officers executed a search warrant on Flaten’s residence on March 19, 2026, and took Flaten into custody. Flaten gave a Mirandized statement during which he initially denied any knowledge of Victim’s report. When confronted with the message, Flaten admitted he agreed to sell Victim a gun, but never actually had one to sell.
Flaten admitted to taking Victim’s $600 and said he spent the money. Flaten also claimed he was alone in his vehicle. Flaten’s phone was searched pursuant to a warrant. A forensic extraction of the phone yielded three videos, two created on March 13, 2026, that showed a gun similar to that described by Victim. One of the videos was from a passenger viewpoint in Flaten’s vehicle. The person recording has a gun in his hand. The video shows Flaten with his window rolled down and a wad of cash in his hand.
The person pointed the gun out the vehicle as they pass Victim’s vehicle, and a laser sight is illuminated. The person laughs and the video stops. The phone also contained a Snapchat conversation between Flaten and unknown person beginning March 13, 2026, at approximately 2:40 pm. The chat included a reference to being with “Alex” and sending the above-referenced video with three crying laughing emojis and Flaten stating “I just hit a lick of $600 you in igh?” The term “hit a lick” is slang for committing a robbery.
There were also text conversations where Flaten admitted to taking Victim’s $600 Flaten’s texts included a conversation with a contact saved as “Alex” starting on March 10, 2026. In 2 19HA-CR-26-645 Filed in District Court State of Minnesota 5/6/2026 that conversation, Flaten and “Alex” discuss Victim wanting to buy a gun and taking his money. On March 12-13, 2026, there are additional texts regarding them “hitting the lick” that weekend. A detective determined through a database that the number for “Alex” belonged to ALEXANDER JACK ERICKSON [DOB REDACTED], Defendant herein.
Flaten’s location data from a tracking warrant also showed up numerous times at Erickson’s address. Flaten was arrested on May 4, 2026. During a search incident to arrest, officers located a small baggie with white powder that officers suspected was cocaine was found in Flaten’s front right pocket. Back at the police department, the suspected cocaine was weighed and Nik tested, weighing in at approximately.2 grams and testing presumptively positive for cocaine.
